UMASS LINGUISTICS COLLOQUIUM
Friday, November 19 2004, 3:30 pm

Post-lexical phonology in a post-derivational theory: Evidence from Thai
Elizabeth Zsiga, Georgetown University

At first glance, the five-tone system of Thai looks quite simple.  This talk 
will show, however,  that the system is in fact much more complex and 
interesting than is usually assumed, with important implications not only for 
the representation of tone but for the overall organization of the grammar.  
The talk is organized around four puzzles in the Thai tonal system.  

* Unexpected pitch contours.  Contour shapes don't actually match the 
  labels "high", "low", "mid", "falling", and "rising".
* Markedness paradoxes in lexical distributions.  Why are high and mid tones 
  prohibited from obstruent-final syllables, while low and falling are allowed?
* Contour reversals in production.  In connected speech, "falling" tones are 
  pronounced with rising pitch trajectories.
* Contour reversals in perception.  In connected speech, rising trajectories 
  are perceived as "falling" tones.

I will propose an analysis that gives a coherent solution to these puzzles, 
relying on four crucial assumptions.

*  Tones are associated to moras in Thai
*  One new constraint
*  Positional Faithfulness
*  A derivational relationship between Lexical and Post-Lexical Phonology.

I will conclude by discussing some of the implications of this last, 
controversial, assumption.

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